One word missing
by missmcweir
Summary: The encounters on missions are always unpredictable. Sometimes, they were faced with situations they did not know how to or dare to label. Back home, they all would have protested. They all knew what had happened, but one word remained unspoken.
1. Endgame

No property infringements intended

Endgame

_"The concept of genocide applies __only__ when there is an actualized intent, however successfully carried out, to physically destroy an __entire__ group (as such a group is defined by the perpetrators)" (Steven T. Katz,__ The Holocaust in Historical Perspective__, Vol. 1, 1994). _

_Other works referenced: _

_L__es Justes by Albert Camus, _

_Die Bürgschaft by Friedrich von Schiller_

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Sam woke up, feeling like her head had been it with a table, which it probably had been. Her vision cleared only slowly, and she began to perceive that she wasn't on earth any longer, but in a vessel, only after several seconds of dumbfounded confusion. It seemed to be an Al-Kash from the design, and she briefly wondered whatever Goa'uld had made it to earth undetected this time. Then she remembered the NID-or-whatever-they-were-incident, Osiris, and her failure at preventing to be captured once aboard the ship. So, whatever the crazed agents had decided to do this time, she would probably be a front- row witness. She tried to adjust herself to a bearable position, when the door slid open and one of her captors entered. He obviously would not leave out the opportunity to boast out about their genius and the totally failsafe plan they had envisaged for now, which made him an even worse cliché of a 007-wannabe-I'll-save-the-world-so-I-am-not-evil evil guy. Joined by Hoskins, the bothersome head of the cell, they started the preparations on what Sam had guessed was their plan after finding the lab and the rockets. But when she tried to reason with them, to point out just how many innocents and allies of Earth would die, she earned only sneers. The rocket was prepared for launch, filled with the symbiote poison deadly for anyone being a host to one in one form or the other. Her arguments remained unheard, were ridiculed, and there was nothing Sam could do to prevent the death of thousands, killed by one small vial in a rocket, instant death send through a stolen Stargate. As much as she knew the Goa'uld were the evil creatures they were, and no matter how many she had fighted, killed, or planned to fight and kill at the moment, this was wrong. This was not the maybe justifiable action to kill one individual tyrant, as in when Damon sneaked towards Dyonis, the knife hidden in his clothing, attempting to free the town of the tyrant.

And this was not the attempt to free a people of an evil dominator, as when a remorseful and doubtful group planned the murder not of the person but of the function the person represented.

This was murder of innocents because of a fanatic belief coupled with total lack of moral and remorse and suitable technical abilities - the icy result of ignorance and technique.

When the rocket was launched, she desperately called: "But this is genocide! "


	2. Ascension

No intellectual property right infringements intended

Ascension

_"Genocide is a form of one-sided mass killing in which a state or other authority intends to destroy a group, as that group and membership in it are defined by the perpetrator" (__Frank Chalk and Kurt Jonassohn,__ The History and Sociology of Genocide __, 1990). 45_

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He would have been the eternal guardian of a memory preciously highly paid for. A memory of two cultures, two civilisations, two worlds on one that extinguished each other for nothing and everything their beliefs had once stood for. Beliefs he, in part, had once had shared, and supported, because, at that point, his understanding of importance had been narrowed.

Nothing was left except for the ruins his spirit inhabited, and when the visitors came, and the icy wind of memories untold crept in their understandings, he was egoistically relieved not to be the only one to keep that memory anymore. At last, this place was tried to be understood by others than him, and maybe even others that might try to go beyond the thin line between judging and ignorance. So far, everyone had just judged, without considering what the motives, and more specifically his motives, had been.

He knew that his behaviour had been the major contributor to the eradication, and that this was more guilt than anyone should have loaded onto their shoulders. His punishment was just, but he had not behaved as he had without a reason, even though this reason was dismally small compared to the price paid. The wish of helping his friends, his compatriots in the defense of their ideals against the others, which were different for reasons long left behind.

The visitors were trying to find links, clues, evidence, and only found despair and destruction. The catastrophe had been too fast to record anything, and his invisible spirit could convey the emotions, but not the facts without revealing his presence… He might follow them, and tell them what happened, and why it happened, and maybe prevent this from happening somewhere else. Reveal him in a less loaded environment. He might tell them why he was involved, and what had made this his final destination. And he might be able to make this place a ray of hope, because it would transform from a memory to a warning.

When the team returned, and reports of the destroyed settlements and ruins were handed over the table, long with analysis and evaluation, the results were pointing in one direction – an attack, a war, either of domestic, planetary dimensions or on the multiplanetory level, and the consecutive destruction of all civilisation. Whichever parties were involved in the fights had either not survived or flown from the planet, the former being the more realistic possibility given the extent of destruction. Whether or not the attack was launched from space, the ruins indicated that the inhabitants had at least intended to defend themselves, and build weaponry that in itself was capable of causing a fair amount of damage.

This was not the remainder of a defenceless civilisation, but of a society that had likely caused large, if not equal destruction in their attempts to rebut the attack on their own. The question of who started, and who reacted, was rendered obsolete by time and lost memories, and was therefore not to be asked. What remained were the ruins of a society that had gone to the last resort, and the traces of the consecutive elimination Even he had to admit that no reason, no motive could ever justify any participation, and that any explanation could only serve as illustration of the remaining, and not description of the happened. A war eliminating an entire population was a horrid thought, and everybody expressed their concern upon that notion. It was generally agreed that it was a horrible thing to happen to any planet.

What was not said was that it was most likely genocide.


	3. Meridian

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No intellectual property rights infringements intended

Meridian

_"By our definition, genocides and politicides are the promotion and execution of policies by a state or its agents which result in the deaths of a substantial portion of a group. The difference between genocides and politicides is in the characteristics by which members of the group are identified by the state. In genocides the victimized groups are defined primarily in terms of their communal characteristics, i.e., ethnicity, religion or nationality. In politicides the victim groups are defined primarily in terms of their hierarchical position or political opposition to the regime and dominant groups" (Barbara Harff and Ted R. Gurr, "Toward empirical theory of genocides and politicides," __International Studies Quarterly__ 37, 3 [1988]). _

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He really had no choice but to stand by and look away. He had seen the development in the minds of the people he worked with, and it was hardly a good one. When he had started, it had been some sort of a watchful care of their own people that drove the people in intelligence. Then, gradually, the watchfulness became obsession and the care started to turn hatred towards the other side.

He vaguely felt that he was beginning to get on the wrong side, and realized that his ethic counseling position was non- influential. A simple PR measure to give the appearance of goodness to a measure of hatred.

He was a studied man, and he had always thought he knew the right from the wrong. But he was also afraid, and so, he could vaguely understand what the fear had done to his colleagues. But he was more on the outside, he had had a view of the greater ensemble, and that was why he did not join them in their hatred.

When the delegation from earth arrived, he was proud to share their technical developments, because it meant that maybe they would give them something else that would maybe appease the fear and turn hatred back into care. What he tried not to share was exactly the psychological development that had lead to the technical developments. Hatred did not seem a particularly good reason to woe these people into an alliance.

After the incident at the lab, he was in a tough position. He knew what was expected of him, and when the aftermath brought out the true potential of naquadriah and the nature of his leaders, he knew he should get out, but he didn't know how.

When the Tau'ri reappeared and accused his people of wilfully veiling the true nature of the accident, he had already seen the deaths of his colleagues, people he had ionce admired. He realized the reasoning behind the research had been wrong. Now, he had a possible bargaining position and a way out, and all he had to do was take it.

He had to get out, and he had to do everything to prevent what was inevitably going to happen on his world if no one took action. Strangely enough, he was the only one able to take action.

His leaders were planning a genocide, and did not realize that it would lead to their own destruction.


	4. Full Circle

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No intellectual property right infringements intended

Full Circle

_"Genocide in the generic sense is the mass killing of substantial numbers of human beings, when not in the course of military forces of an avowed enemy, under conditions of the essential defenselessness and helplessness of the victims". (Israel W. Charny in __Genocide: Conceptual and Historical Dimensions__ ed. George Andreopoulos, 1994). 51_

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It's true, in the beginning, he did not really mean to kill all Abydonians. His goal was the eye of Ra, mystic means to unimaginable power, and combined with the other five eyes in his possession, the final step towards almightiness and the supreme power in the universe. And he was so close – he knew the near-to-exact location of the artefact, he had made the travel, and his soldiers, trained and well-prepared, had set out to get it.

Then, things had started to go wrong. The Tau'ri were reported to be on the planet, aware of the eye, and on the best way of finding it, and that, from previous encounters, was not a good sign. Next, the System Lords had somehow gotten hold of his position, and united and moved their fleet to meet and possibly hinder him. And finally, he had had a visit of another Ascended. Anubis was unsure, or as unsure as a god could possibly be, of whether this was a good or a bad thing. The ascended had been one of the Tau'ri, and therefore must have had help with ascension. So far, they were equal. But his presence here either meant that Oma Desala had finally decided to take action, and that he had joined forces with her, or that he was here without consent or notice. The first would be bad – battling a real ancient being, someone as powerful as Oma, helped by someone who obviously had been deserving her help, was beyond his powers, as long as he did not have the eye. But negotiating with someone who had friends and family down on the planet, and the best intentions to keep them and the rest of the universe safe might be a blessing in disguise. Of course, the mere realms of "care" were beyond him, the only thing he knew about the concept was that his enemies tended to risk a lot – and sometimes more than what was reasonable in pursuit of some ridiculous obsession called love.

However, he could only use that to his own advantage – and advantage was the only thing he really "cared" about. He knew that attachments lead to compromises, and the key to success was to use these ties to bind others into deals. Being a no-strings-attached- guy allowed him to cut deals whenever he wanted. He wanted to do that often, and he had been very successful. But there was one other emotion he tended to neglect, and that was passion in it's purest form. He only knew the rush of hatred and of revenge, but the passion that drove selfless acts he could not understand.

The tide had turned to his favour with the development on the planet, and he had been able to demonstrate his newly gained power. The other system lords would never be a problem for him, and he would be ruler without measure. He knew the Tau'ri had been behind the attack, but weren't able to keep up the fight without the System Lords, and must have only agreed to an alliance to be able to fight at all. The irksome planet would not be much longer a concern, he mused. And they wouldn't even be able to defend themselves. And the final straw to his victory – the Ancients would never overstep their own boundaries. He was likely dealing with a rogue, that would not get the support he needed. If they were willing to help his adversary, they would have done so by now.

Victory was only a matter of time, and currently there was but one enemy to break. It was a simple tactical measure to secure complete victory.

Anubis directed the power of the Eye of Ra towards Abydos, and his enemy could do nothing to stop him and the genocide.


	5. Metamorphosis

No intellectual property rights infringements intended

Metamorphosis

_  
"Genocide is sustained purposeful action by a perpetrator to physically destroy a collectivity directly or indirectly, through interdiction of the biological and social reproduction of group members, sustained regardless of the surrender or lack of threat offered by the victim". (__Helen Fein, __Genocide: A Sociological Perspective__, 1993/1990). 47_

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The sight of the creatures that had once been human had been a shock, and for once, it had not been the result of human action or inaction – both in manipulating others or not helping them. They seemed like the results of a really bad dream by a horror movie costume maker, but they were still fellow humans. They had attracted the bad luck to be noticed by a power- hungry being on it's quest for perfection, and had ended up being the opposite.

Nirrty had not exactly killed anyone, but by changing the genetic structures of a whole population, the former had ceased to exist and was replaced by mutated leave-behinds of unsuccessful and unguided science. Life on the planet was now reduced to a basic form of defeat, the total destruction of a society that had been blooming and was now unable to get back up.

That they had been abandoned might have been their greatest luck in all. There was still a chance.

They were however still living, and even though it was a miserable life in their own comparisons, it still was. They weren't extinguished yet, and so still had time to make their sufferings known and maybe, maybe find someone to reverse it. However slight these chances were, they still had hope- an utterly human demeanour, which most certainly wouldn't make it on a perfect-host-list of any Goa'uld.

Fanaticism would lead to many obsessions, and genetic manipulation in search of the perfect human was among it. Without regards to the results on the side, strewn along the path like fallen leaves, the goal had not come one step closer.

Creating a perfect human was not possible – what Nirrty wanted was beyond human, and everything else not creatable. The results of her tampering with science would at some point be extinguished, and what had been a culture, a society, a community would only exist in history. They were a reminder of what could happen, or of what would happen. With their metamorphosis, they had gained a whole new responsibility.

It was the last generations task to make sure they were remembered by someone, and that those that knew of them would also know of the genocide that led to their extinction.

Nirrty had seen a planet that was a laboratory, a population that were mice, all hers to take. And she had always been the goddess.


	6. Children of the Gods

No property infringements intended

Children of the Gods

_Article 2:__ In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: _

_(a) Killing members of the group;  
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;  
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;  
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;  
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. _

_(United Nations Genocide Convention__, __entered in force 12 January 1951)_

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They had been naïve in the beginning, stumbling through the universe in a vendetta against a previously unknown race.

They had been living a happy, isolated life on their little planet, and everyone had pretty much been minding their own businesses.

Then, all of a sudden, they decided to leave their world and go out and discover new things. When they had discovered the system of repression, religion and fear that was used to coerce other civilisations into submission, they had been starting to fight. Then, they simply left again to go back to their own cozy homes.

Everyone, and in other circumstances even themselves, would have agreed that these fights were wrong. They did not know the background, the historical develoment, the people they sided with and their enemies. But they insisted on being good. On bringing freedom and sovereignty. On destroying an enemy that had never attacked them.

After some time, one of their enemies foolishly opened the gate again for his own pleasure. And then one thing led to another. It gave them reason enough to stumble even deeper into the fragile power network that ruled their galaxy. It also gave them a reason to vow to destroy a whole race.

Even after they met those Tok'Ras who had sworn to be different from their own kind, they did not see what they were doing. They had decided on their enemy, and they would make sure that no one would remain to pose a threat.

Of course, it all was for the Greater Good, for ideals and such other non-descript things that societies would deem necessary. It was after all a great burden for themselves, and they believed themselves selfless and helpful and wise and brave. The rest of the universe should acknowledge their actions and applaud those who dared to break a circle. And in a way, they were right. They chose better ways of dealing with problems.

But as with all choices, some were wrong. Sometimes, these mistakes lead to the suffering of themselves, of their friends or to their destruction. Sometimes, it lead to power vacuum, that friends were hasty to fill with another golden cow. Sometimes it lead them to elevate themselves above others morally, and to dictate their notions of right and wrong. Sometimes, it lead them to underestimate or disregard the culture and society their enemies had developped. Sometimes, when they thought of the near extinction of their enemies, the were filled with pride.

They did set out to kill a race, a crime they themselves had called genocide.


End file.
